The Seafront Tea Rooms Read Online Free PDF Page B

You’ve always been the brains of the operation.’
    ‘Ha,’ she said, and smiled. ‘Well, hopefully it’ll be soon. You know how it gets here in winter.’
    ‘Yep,’ he said, his eyes meeting hers. ‘Absolutely freezing. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I send money next month.’
    Kat nodded. ‘OK.’
    ‘In the meantime, I’ve got a proposition for you.’
    ‘Hmm?’
    ‘I’ve barely seen Leo these past few months, and Mum and Dad are desperate to spend some time with him. They haven’t set eyes on him since their last visit down here, and that was…’ His words trailed off.
    ‘When we were still together.’
    ‘Yes.’
    She remembered the visit clearly. It had been a sunny spring weekend last year. The four of them had taken Leo to the beach, with his kite, and they’d had a picnic on the sand. From the outside it must have looked like the perfect outing.
    ‘Could I take him back to Edinburgh with me for a couple of weeks – three maybe? Mum and Dad can look after him if and when I get work.’
    ‘Three weeks?’ she said, feeling winded. She hadn’t been apart from Leo for that long since he was born. ‘But… what about nursery, Jake? His routine…’
    ‘Come on, Kat. I’m his dad – these are his grandparents. Isn’t it more important that we spend some proper time with him? We’ll make sure we keep things as normal as possible.’
    She tried to imagine the flat without Leo; his room, empty. The quiet. ‘I don’t know —’
    ‘You need to look for a job, to send out CVs – that’s what you keep saying. Don’t tell me you did all that work at uni for nothing. If I had Leo for a few weeks you’d be able to focus on your career.’
    A cough came from Leo’s room, and Kat turned towards the sound. Was it selfish to want to keep him with her? The flat fell silent again.
    Jake spoke up. ‘We did say we would share looking after him.’
    ‘You’re right.’
    Jake finished his tea. ‘Listen, I should be going. I’m staying at a friend’s tonight. I’ll come back in the morning to see him. Think it over?’
    ‘OK,’ Kat said, hoping that in the morning the idea of parting with her son would seem easier. ‘Let’s talk then.’

5
     
    Friday 5 September
     
    Scarborough, Peasholm Park
    The taxi slowed as it approached the semi-detached house. Over the road, exactly as Adam had described, was a park with a Japanese pagoda, still and mystical in the early evening light.
    ‘This is it,’ Séraphine said to the driver.
    That morning she’d kissed goodbye to her parents and the twins at Bordeaux airport. It felt a world away now.
    She could see a girl in the window – brown hair in a ponytail, her nose pressed up against the glass. Séraphine waved at her. Adam opened the door. ‘Hi,’ he said warmly. She recognised him instantly from their chat on Skype – about thirty, with dark hair, a little scruffy at the front, and brown eyes, dressed in a grey jumper and jeans. He stepped forward and held out his hand for her to shake.
    ‘I’m Adam.’ He shook his head and laughed shyly. ‘But you already know that. Here, let me take your bag for you.’
    As he took her suitcase from her, she returned his smile. ‘Thank you.’
    She followed him in. Compared to the entrance hall in her family’s chateau, the house seemed cramped and untidy – coats were piled one on top of another and muddy shoes and wellingtons dirtied the carpet by the door. Two empty cat baskets and a hamster cage formed a precarious pile beside them.
    ‘Excuse the chaos,’ Adam said. ‘You’ll get used to it, I hope.’
    ‘It’s fine, don’t worry,’ Séraphine assured him. ‘You have pets?’ she asked, peering at the cages.
    ‘Not at the moment,’ he replied with a smile. ‘But we do have the occasional short-stay guest. I’m a vet – with a weakness for taking in waifs and strays. I probably should have warned you.’
    ‘That’s OK, I’m fond of animals.’
    She looked past Adam to the doorway